Jawan gets 7 years for leaking sensitive info to Pak

A Delhi court has sentenced an army jawan to seven years in jail for doubling as a Pakistan intelligence agent and supplying sensitive defence-related information to the neighbouring country.

District and Additional Sessions Judge O P Gupta jailed Anil Kumar Dubey, 39, convicting him under Section 3 of the Official Secrets Act for passing on secret information to Pakistan about the movement and deployment of army troops in India.

According to the prosecution, the special cell of the Delhi police had arrested Dubey from his home at Mahipalpur on October 20, 2006 on a tip-off that an alleged Pakistan high commission employee would be visiting him to procure some sensitive information.

The police had caught Dubey while he was handing over a bag, containing some CDs and other documents, including some notifications pertaining to army's anti-insurgency operations, to the alleged Pakistan high commission employee, Mohd Farooq. Raids at Dubey's house led to recovery of three cheque books, two of which belonged to Farooq and one to Shamshad Hussain, another alleged Pakistan embassy official.

The police in its search of Dubey's desk at Army Group Insurance Bhawan also recovered documents pertaining to new dialling system and AGI journal of the year 2005, the prosecution said. As Farooq enjoyed diplomatic immunity, he was handed over to Pakistan high commission through Ministry of External Affairs, while Dubey was arrested, it said.

Dubey, in his defence, contended he was falsely implicated to "settle scores with Pakistan and that he had cbeen made a scapegoat".

The court, however, said he failed to disclose any motive as to why police would implicate him and that "simply suggesting that he was made scapegoat is not enough." It also rejected his contention that the prosecution had failed to show any heavy bank transaction for the secret information that he had been passing.

"It is a matter of common knowledge that most of the offences are committed in the darkness of night and under the table. A culprit would not deposit the amount received by him as illegal gratification in his bank account," the court said. "Recovery of a cheque book of Mohd Farooq from house of accused shows that accused had some links with him. The same strengthens the case of prosecution that the two indulged in passing of some secret information," the judge said.

On Dubey's submission that the papers alleged to be passed on to Farooq in 2006 were of 2003 and were outdated from the angle of espionage, the court said, "The documents may be old for one and new for other. It depends upon the degree of progress with which two countries are proceeding.

"The dialling system adopted in 2003 in India may be unknown to Pakistan till 2006. The question is as to what justification the accused had to supply the said information?" the judge pointed.